I was all set to write about the end of the occupation in Oregon and what a waste of both time and life — and loss — it was, but Josh Marshall said everything I wanted to say and a lot better.

When I heard that [LaVoy] Finicum had died my own feeling was some mix of sadness and disgust – not because I sympathized with Finicum, he clearly seemed to want to end his life like this, but because of how sad and stupid it is to throw away your life over bullshit. He had a wife and eleven kids. No doubt they’re devastated. Even with the rankest violent white supremacists or jihadis who blow themselves up or get themselves killed, I can get that there’s a thing they’re doing, a set of beliefs, albeit crazy and totally evil. Here, though, these guys have this bucket of nonsense hocum about Magna Carta and Sheriffs somehow being the true “sovereigns” over state governments, federal governments, the people themselves and all of this means the federal government can’t manage and charge grazing fees for land that it in fact owns. These aren’t archaic ideas that were once true but are now outdated. This stuff was never true or even made any sense. Clearly, there’s a sense of alienation and entitlement and a cultural posture driving these beliefs but I’m sorry, that’s just a complete f’ing pile of nonsense that isn’t based on anything. Like I said, it’s sad to see someone throw their life away over bullshit. Not because Finicum matters to me but because senseless bloodshed is sad and stupid and with any life ultimately tragic.

There are still some holdouts at the Malheur facility, but I hope that it is now over.